Mars One: Dutch Mars mission a PR stunt – Pauls Irbins from Latvia has also made it into the next round

A Dutch entrepreneur is planning a one-way mission to Mars.

The settlers, who are to be filmed during their trip to the planet which is planned for 2025, are currently being selected.

Pauls Irbins from the small Latvian city Cēsis has also made it into the next round. For the liberal daily Rīgas Laiks the whole project is a PR stunt:

The chance of reaching Mars is 30 percent, and of spending three months there only 20 percent. But that’s enough to get the required number of viewers to watch. What they’ll see, however, is how the Mars travellers die a painful death.

… The situation could then become tragi-comic if the viewers lose their trust and no longer believe it’s a trip to Mars, but a show with paid actors and special effects. … And what exactly do four billion TV viewers stand to gain from watching four people take part in a survival show on Mars?